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  18 Months ago, Jannis Herminghaus came to live with us as an exchange student. He was naive but eager to learn about California and America. In six months, he became part of our family. We wanted him to come back. His family would not let him return for Christmas, so a year went by. Then his parents agreed he could come back He returned for our summer vacation in Big Sky. It was like old times having him back part of our family. Yesterday, his time was up and he had to return to Germany. He was pretty tough. No tears inspite of some regrets. He has a girlfriend here and he loves living in California. What will be the future. Jannis will graduate from  Gymnasium next July. He hopes to move to California, find job and go to college. I'm not sure how this will all happen. But if we look at his history, t wo years ago,  he was a lonely kid in Germany wishing he could come to California. He made that happen. Don't count him out. He will be back.

  In many ways, my life has been similar to a Phillip Roth book or Rolling Stones song.  I feel driven to accomplish or fix stuff. When things do not work out as expected, I become frustrated and outspoken. Twice this past week I have been told my style is offensive. One person called it "unprofessional" the other called me an "asshole'. They both felt very smug having shared their point of view. It really is irrelevant to me. I am not driven as a matter of choice. I can't change who I am and at 75, why try? I spend time thinking. I ask myself and others around me, why is this happening? Most ignore me. Others don't know or don't care.  Sebastian Maniscalco asks, in his standup routine: "Why would you do that?" I understand how he feels. I have expectations about almost everything and everyone. 80% of the time I am disappointed. When this happens, I try to "fix" it by discussing my expectation. This leads to conflict or arguments. Surp...